


It Happened One Day

by SophieD



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Detectives, F/F, Lesbian Sex, Medical Examiner, References to gun violence, changing your life, co workers, discovering sexuality, friends - Freeform, police drama
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-07
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-10 07:06:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12293901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SophieD/pseuds/SophieD
Summary: The shooting in the morgue prompted Melinda to do some soul searching and make some big changes in her life.  She wants some of those changes to involve Olivia but she isn't sure how to do that.





	1. Home Sick

The thick, sticky liquid oozes through her fingers, coating them. The smell of gun powder mixes with the sweet metallic tang, burning her nose, making it hard to breathe, hard to think. Her ears ring with the sound of the shot. All she can hear is the pounding of her heart.   
Boom boom.   
Boom boom.  
Boom boom.   
“Olivia!”

She sits up straight, pulling the quilt up to cover herself, trying to catch her breath.  
“Olivia! Open the door!”

She stumbles to the door and works the locks. She pulls the door open.  
“What’dya want, El?”  
“Cap said you were sick.”   
He pushes past her into the apartment, scowling at the evidence that his partner slept on her couch again.   
“Kathy wanted me to bring you some soup.”  
“Thanks.” She waves at the kitchen. “Just put it on the counter.” She sinks into her sofa, pulling the quilt around herself again.  
“When d’ya think you’re coming back? Tomorrow?”  
“I have no idea, Elliot. When I feel better.”  
“Go see her.”  
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”  
“Go see her, Olivia.”  
“Fuck you.”  
“I’m serious. You need to go see. She’s fine.”  
Olivia glares at him. “She’s not fine. She almost died.”  
“You saved her life.”  
“I almost got her killed.”  
“She’s fine, Liv. None of it was your fault. You know that.”  
“Get out.”  
“I’ll see you at your desk in the morning. Don’t be late.”  
“I SAID GET OUT!”  
He is halfway through the door when he turns back. “Eat the soup.”

She follows behind him, slamming the locks into place before running her fingers through her scraggily hair. “Fuck you, Elliot!” she repeats as she wanders toward the bathroom to shower.


	2. Can We Talk?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warner's back but Olivia still doesn't know how to talk to her

Olivia drops a cup of coffee on Elliot’s desk.  
“You look like Hell!”  
“Love you too Liv.”  
“You get any sleep at all?”  
“I caught a couple hours in the crib.”  
“Yeah, well, you should go home and see Kathy and the kids. I’ve got this. Just paperwork anyway. Good job on getting Simpson to crack, by the way.”  
She sits down and scoots herself up to her desk, reaching for the file folder Elliot holds out to her. He stands and starts to gather his stuff.  
“Not so fast,” Munch mutters as he walks by. “ME wants to see you. Something new he wants to show you.”  
“God I hope Warner comes back soon,” Elliot sighs. “This guy is an idiot!”  
“Give ‘em a break, El,” Olivia tells him. “He wasn’t ready to fly solo. He’s doing the best he can.”  
“Yeah well, his best is crap. If he messes up this confession…”  
Olivia doesn’t answer, just grabs her trademark brown leather coat and turns away. Elliott follows, still complaining about the junior ME who has been filling in for Dr. Warner since she was shot 8 weeks ago.

Olivia is typing on her phone as she walks behind Elliot into the morgue. She doesn’t see the tall black woman turn to greet the detectives. Elliot stops short and Olivia runs into the back of him.  
“Warner! You don’t know how happy I am to see you!” Elliot exclaims.  
“Well, by the look of this place, I can see why,” Melinda says dryly. She looks to Olivia who is just standing and staring.  
“Detective Stabler, Detective Benson,” she offers in greeting.  
“You, you’re back?” Olivia says with surprise in her voice.  
“Of course I’m back,” Melinda replies, her eyes never leaving Olivia’s face. “Obviously this place can’t run without me.”  
“You have no idea,” Elliot tells her. “That guy Johnson is an idiot.”  
Melinda smiles. “Yeah, I sent him back to Rodgers. She’ll whip him into shape. Now, you wanna see what I got or what?”

Melinda walks the two detectives through her additional findings on the three male teenaged bodies currently occupying her morgue. Satisfied that the new information supports their case, Elliot suggests they grab a cup of coffee before getting back to the precinct. Olivia nods and turns to follow him when Melinda reaches out and grabs her elbow.  
“Can we talk for a minute?”  
Olivia looks like she wants to do anything, but she acquiesces. “El, why don’t you go home. I’ll finish up on this. Kathy’s probably forgotten what you look like by now. Start fresh in the morning.” He nods and leaves the two women to chat. Olivia turns back to Melinda and waits for the words, and guilt, she knows are coming.  
“I was hoping you were going to come see me?” Melinda asks.  
Olivia shifts uncomfortably. “I know, I was, uh, you know how it is. Busy.”  
“Still, I wanted to say thank you. For saving my life.”  
“I didn’t save your life, I got you shot.”  
“It wasn’t your fault.”  
“Of course it was. I brought her in there.”  
“Olivia, we all thought that was a good idea, to let her see her son. You couldn’t have known her husband would arrive. Or that she would get a hold of that officer’s gun. No one could have predicted that.”  
“It’s my job to predict that. It was a mistake. My mistake.”  
Melinda sighs. “Fine. You still saved my life. The bleeding, the chest tube, you did that.”  
“You told me what to do.”  
“Can’t you just accept it for what it is?” Melinda asks, exasperated with Olivia’s obstinacy. “I wouldn’t be here now if you hadn’t acted. OK?”  
“Ok.”  
“Good.”  
“Good.”

The two women stand in silence for a few seconds. Melinda breaks the ice again.  
“I was, um, wondering, I don’t have many girl friends, friends, I was wondering if maybe you would like to go out and get a drink some time. You know, just to talk, get to know each other.”  
“Why?” Olivia mentally chastises herself. She’s usually not quite so blunt. She watches as Melinda’s chocolate brown cheeks turn red and she looks away.  
“I just thought maybe we could be friends, have someone to talk to sometimes, you know, like you and Elliot? But it’s ok. Never mind.”  
Olivia immediately feels bad. “No. I’d like that. You just surprised me, I mean how long have we known each other? We’ve never really had a conversation outside of work.”  
Melinda blushes again. “I know. I’ve had a lot of time to think lately. I want to make some changes in my life. One is to, maybe, you know, be a little bit more social, work less.”  
“Getting shot does that. Friday night good with you?”  
“Good. Yes. Friday night. I’ll text you?”  
Olivia smiles. “Good. I look forward to it.”


	3. Definitely Not a Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Olivia meets Melinda for a drink but, it is definitely not a date. Is it?

“So where are you taking Warner on your date?”  
Olivia glares at him. “It’s not a date. She wants a friend. I could use a few of those from time to time. We’re just going to get a drink, talk, see if we have anything in common.”  
“You have dead people in common.”  
“Very funny El. I think the point is to not talk about work.”  
“You mean a date?”  
“Fuck off.”  
“You’re taking her somewhere nice aren’t you? Please tell me you’re not taking her to a cop bar?”  
“I’m not taking her to a cop bar. And I’m not telling you or any of the other Yahoos where we’re going.” She nods at Munch and Finn. They both look away guiltily, pretending they weren’t listening in on the conversation. Elliot gives them a dirty look while Olivia escapes before he can get more details.

It takes a few seconds for Olivia’s eyes to adjust to the low light in the tap room of the Dead Rabbit Grocery and Grog. She spies a hand waving and makes her way to the back of the bar. Melinda stands to greet her and they sit on opposite sides of the small table. Before they can talk, a waiter appears. Olivia looks at Melinda who shrugs that she doesn't care. Olivia orders two Killians on tap.  
“So,” she says with a smile.  
“So,” Melinda responds. After a few more awkward seconds, they both start giggling nervously.  
“I’m sorry,” Olivia says. “I’m terrible at this sort of thing.”  
“It’s OK. I’m just glad you came. I half expected you were going to call and cancel.”  
Olivia laughs again. “I picked up the phone more than once but Elliot shamed me into keeping the, um, date.”  
Melinda smiles. “Well thank him for me.”  
“I will,” Olivia says with a nod. She takes a sip of the just delivered beer. “Are you hungry? I hear the lobster deviled eggs are to die for.”  
Melinda shakes her head. “No. This is fine,” she says, gesturing to her glass but she doesn’t drink. They sit in uncomfortable silence again. Olivia makes another attempt at small talk.  
“So, do you come here often?”  
Melinda looks suddenly terrified. She puts her hands on the table and pushes herself to standing. “I’m sorry Olivia. This was a bad idea. I’ll go. Finish your drink. I’ve got it.”  
Olivia grabs her hand and holds it to the table.  
“Wait! Melinda, was this supposed to be a date?”  
Melinda’s cheeks turn a deep red. “What? No. Of course not. Did you think it was a date? Because it’s definitely not a date. Did you want it to be a date?”  
“Sit down.” Melinda does as she’s told. “I’m not sure what I thought it was. It could have been a date but, Melinda, aren’t you married?”  
“No, not anymore.” She sighs. “I wasn’t sure either. I, I just don’t know what I was thinking, I mean, I like you but I don’t even know you and, well, I thought maybe we could talk and we could figure it out.”  
“So, let’s talk then. Tell me what happened? I thought you and your husband were good.”  
“We were, we are, it’s difficult to explain. We still love each other. We still live together,” she laughs nervously, “for our daughter. But not in the same room, not anymore. Robert, he’ll always be a part of my life but, well, we, I decided I wanted something different. In the bedroom I mean. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but he deserves someone who wants the same thing he does. Does that make any sense?”  
Olivia nods. “I think so.”  
Melinda looks relieved. “So, I mean, I don’t even know what you want, or even like? Could this be a date? If not, I’m really sorry, I just presumed because you don’t seem to, oh Olivia, I can’t believe I even said that. It’s not like because of your job or the way you look or…”  
Olivia finally stops her. “Melinda! Breathe! It’s OK. All you have to do is ask. I won’t be offended.”  
“Okay…did you, would you want it to be a date?”  
“I would love for it to be a date.”  
“Oh thank goodness!” Melinda breathes as she falls back in her chair. Olivia laughs.  
“So this is one of those changes in your life you were talking about?”  
“Yeah. I mean, I’ve known for a while that I wasn’t happy but I didn’t have any strong feelings about women. I just thought it was the marriage doldrums and I would get over it.”  
“But?”  
“But then I got shot and I realized that life is too short to feel that way. I started thinking about what would make me happy and every time it was you. Is that strange?”  
“It would be the first time I’ve turned a woman gay. Men maybe but never a woman.”  
Melinda laughs. “So you’re?”  
“Bi-sexual? Yes. In theory. In reality, more like I don’t date anyone.”  
“Why is that?”  
Olivia takes another sip of her beer. “You know how it is, the job. When I’m not breaking dates, I’m always saying the wrong thing. Seems like there are two kinds, the ones who are turned off by what I do and the ones who are turned on by it.”  
Melinda nods. “Yeah. I get that. That’s one of the reasons I love Robert. He’s good at making me leave work at work, not talking about the gruesome. He understands about me getting called away at all hours. That’s one of the reasons we’re still living together. For Mila. That’s our daughter. She’s 12. Beautiful, smart, talented. She’s the most important thing to both of us.”  
Olivia smiles and puts her hand on top of Melinda’s again. “She takes after her mother.”  
Melinda blushes again while Olivia finishes her drink and waives for the waiter.  
“Let’s get out of here.”


End file.
